I lease a draft cross mare I ride her both english and western pleasure. I'm currently riding english mainly because I use a wintec synthetic saddle and it is soooo much easier to lift than the big,heavy western saddle.

She sounds beautiful! I LOVE draft horses, especially Clydesdales!

I know western saddles can be heavy, but they are more secure and comfortable for me :)

I have never been in an english saddle, nor ridden English. I hope to learn soon, along with starting jumping. Can you jump in a western saddle while riding western? Would it be best to start with ground poles?

I have horses. I own a boarding barn so there are 6 on the property, 2 are mine. :)

I have a 13 yr old red dun QH gelding...the love of my life. I've had him for almost 6 years (6 on august 1). I've done everything with him, h/j, eq, eventing (he looooves xc), trail, some gaming, and even some basic reining! We mostly trail ride now b/c that is what he really loves. I get him out on the trails and his ears go up and he gets this AWESOME 10+ walk and off we go. <3 my boy.

My other boy is a 20 yr old drk bay TB gelding. I've only had him for 2 years (brought him over as a companion for my QH when I bought the farm) but he is QUITE the character. He makes faces, grabs bracelets, and is a big ol' love bug. He has a grade 3.5-4 heart murmur and has had lymphangitis twice in his LH so he is mostly retired. I sometimes take him on a quick trail ride and he absolutely adores that. He goes out by himself no problem and he is usually kind of herd bound so I figure he must like it! But his claim to fame is a decade long racing career (very unusual!) and winning over half a mill. Yet I got this fantastic guy for free.

The other horses on the farm are a 14 yr old QH mare who is a hussy ;), an 18 yr old TB gelding, a flipping adorable morgan pony gelding who has a TON of hair, and a 25 yr old TB broodie (now on trail duty!). Gotta love horses.

hmm now i am thinking about starting with ground poles, then going to cross-poles

Please don't start jumping outside of lessons with a qualified instructor. It is too easy to not give a proper release and catch your horse in the mouth. You could also easily unseat yourself if your horse jumps big (which can happen with a horse not used to jumping) and make you fall. Jumping is wonderful, but definitely not safe to do without an instructor present at first.

I would start with cavaletti and raised cavaletti, work on your 2 and 3 point over those. Once you're confident you won't fall out of position, you can take some lessons to start jumping. Good luck!

I have horses. I own a boarding barn so there are 6 on the property, 2 are mine. :)

I have a 13 yr old red dun QH gelding...the love of my life. I've had him for almost 6 years (6 on august 1). I've done everything with him, h/j, eq, eventing (he looooves xc), trail, some gaming, and even some basic reining! We mostly trail ride now b/c that is what he really loves. I get him out on the trails and his ears go up and he gets this AWESOME 10+ walk and off we go. <3 my boy.

My other boy is a 20 yr old drk bay TB gelding. I've only had him for 2 years (brought him over as a companion for my QH when I bought the farm) but he is QUITE the character. He makes faces, grabs bracelets, and is a big ol' love bug. He has a grade 3.5-4 heart murmur and has had lymphangitis twice in his LH so he is mostly retired. I sometimes take him on a quick trail ride and he absolutely adores that. He goes out by himself no problem and he is usually kind of herd bound so I figure he must like it! But his claim to fame is a decade long racing career (very unusual!) and winning over half a mill. Yet I got this fantastic guy for free.

The other horses on the farm are a 14 yr old QH mare who is a hussy ;), an 18 yr old TB gelding, a flipping adorable morgan pony gelding who has a TON of hair, and a 25 yr old TB broodie (now on trail duty!). Gotta love horses.

Please don't start jumping outside of lessons with a qualified instructor. It is too easy to not give a proper release and catch your horse in the mouth. You could also easily unseat yourself if your horse jumps big (which can happen with a horse not used to jumping) and make you fall. Jumping is wonderful, but definitely not safe to do without an instructor present at first.

I would start with cavaletti and raised cavaletti, work on your 2 and 3 point over those. Once you're confident you won't fall out of position, you can take some lessons to start jumping. Good luck!

lol i would neverride by myself or without supervision.
Thank you! I always love to learn from the more-expirienced and knowledgeable!

I know western saddles can be heavy, but they are more secure and comfortable for me :)

I have never been in an english saddle, nor ridden English. I hope to learn soon, along with starting jumping. Can you jump in a western saddle while riding western? Would it be best to start with ground poles?

Thanks i am excited for the new horse!

Thank you she is beautiful! I actually went back to western yesterday for the same reasons you listed. If you've never ridden in an english saddle it will feel kind of weird at first but you get used to it. The english saddle I ride in has a bucking strap which is just a leather strap that rests in front of and connects to the pommel of the saddle. it doesn't stand up like a horn but it's nice to have if you loose your balance if the horse spooks or something. As for jumping I've barely done any jumping and summer ( my lease horse) doesn't jump so I'm no expert but from what I've read in books starting with ground poles is good and you can practice your jumping position going over them but you might want to take some lessons for the actual jumping part if you've never done it before. As far as I know it is possible to jump western you just can't lean forward very much because of the horn but my trainer at the place where I used to take lessons has jumped western so I'm sure it's fine to do.

Thank you she is beautiful! I actually went back to western yesterday for the same reasons you listed. If you've never ridden in an english saddle it will feel kind of weird at first but you get used to it. The english saddle I ride in has a bucking strap which is just a leather strap that rests in front of and connects to the pommel of the saddle. it doesn't stand up like a horn but it's nice to have if you loose your balance if the horse spooks or something. As for jumping I've barely done any jumping and summer ( my lease horse) doesn't jump so I'm no expert but from what I've read in books starting with ground poles is good and you can practice your jumping position going over them but you might want to take some lessons for the actual jumping part if you've never done it before. As far as I know it is possible to jump western you just can't lean forward very much because of the horn but my trainer at the place where I used to take lessons has jumped western so I'm sure it's fine to do.

Thanks so much for the advice! I appreciate every bit! Yesterday and today were my first times riding english, and first time riding bareback! I LOVE IT! I want to start jumping on the new horse we get if he is already trained.

UPDATE: We are thinking about an Appaloosa instead of the Saddlebred. From what we've heard he is in poor condition and needs proper care and a good home along with some TLC. He is a blue roan, and about 15 hands.

Usually you should wait a year or two before you start jumping. My cousin rode her whole life western and still rode english every day before she jumped. I feel bad for horses whose riders are moving too fast and aren't doing stuff right.